Flood management has considerably evolved since the last few years, due to a better comprehension of hydrometeorological phenomena facilitated by forecast data dissemination. The data, provided by applicable research centers as well as state-run services (e.g.: Météo France, Cerema, SCHAPI, BRGM, and IRSTEA), improve the anticipation and allow communities, companies, and citizens to reduce damage and losses. Thus, anticipation is an asset of safety vis-à-vis people, goods and enterprises implanted in flood prone areas. Actually, preventive measures implementation may afford a priceless time for leaders and managers to cope with hazardous phenomena, reducing the impacts over inhabitants and properties. Safeguard actions enhanced according to the nowcast and the magnitude of the hydrometeorological event are structured as an integrating concept called Safeguard community level (SCL), which encompasses the behavior and procedures to adopt while facing a risky event. This concept has been used for more than 30,000 municipalities in France in order to determine the level of safeguard to be engaged, following the premises of Community Safeguard Plan created to be the bridge between hazard and safety actions vital to crisis management, in synergy with National services warning levels. The present paper aims to present the importance of the aforementioned concept to cope with the floods, especially those that have recently made the headlines in France: Saone river flood (January 2018) and torrential floods after severe thunderstorms (May 2018).

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